System of transportation by electricity in mines



(No Model.)

E. A. SPBRRY, 4. v SYSTEM OF TRANSPORTATION BY ELEGTRIGITY'IN MINES.

No. 434,333. Patnted Aug. 12, 1390; fl' p" I a a T & J IQ f I i I II II 2- IIIIIIIIIII/h m: uomus VETFRS ca. mow-mum, w snugamwm c.

UNITED STATES r PATENT OFFIC .ELMER A. 'SPERRY, OF CHICAGO,ILLINOIS, ASSIGNCR TO THE SPERRY ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF ILLINOIS.

SYSTEM OF TRANSPORTATION BY,ELECTR|CITY IN MINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 434,363, dated August 12,1890.

Application filed April 12, 1889. Serial No. 306,991.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELMER A. SPERRY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Elinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Systems of Transportation by Electricity in Mines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to systems of electric traction with especial reference to use in mines, and has for its object to provide an improved apparatus by means of which electricity may be applied for purposes of traction which will cheapen and facilitate the operation of such devices, as in the manner set forth in the following specification, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a vertical section of a miningshaft and of an electric traction-car with its automatic reeling devices, power-transmission, &c. Fig. 2 is a detail of the automatic reeling device. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of a shaft at intersection of the main entry with lateral entry, showing'detail of electrical construction; and Figs. 4. and 5 show details of track and truck.

Like parts are indicated by the same letter in all the figures.

A A are the rails of a tramway, situated in the entry of a mine or elsewhere. A is a tram-car adapted to operate on said track. A is an electric motor contained therein and adapted to drive the pinion A and gear A which operates by a chain-connection the shafts A A situated immediately above, and

pairs of wheels B, forming the trucks and geared thereto, as shown. The axle B, upon which the wheel B is secured, also supports a collar B between which and the wheel is a secondary or auxiliary wheel B loose upon said shaft.

Supported by the ties or cross-pieces A of the track and adjacent to the curve is an auxiliary supporting-rail 13 (shown in Fig. 5,) to be slightly higher than the rail A, for purposes hereinafter stated.

C is a handle operating a rheostat C, for controlling the speed or application of the electric current to the motor.

(No model.)

C and C are switches placed in the main circuit, and C is a flexible cable orconduc'tor connecting the electric circuit with the con' made between said cable and the conductingstrips I term a detachable trolley, which consists of two grooved rollers D D on one edge of the strip and a clamping-roller D upon the under side of the strip, which is supported to an arm D held toward the other trolleys by a spring D thereby clamping the conducting-strips D, and readily detachable by extension of the spring D E is a reel for the electric cable E. This cable is in electric connection with the motorcircuit by a wire E (Seen in Fig. 1.)

F F are two rollers over which the cable travels. Between these rollers is a third G, which rests upon the fiexibleconductor and is supported by an arm G, fulcrumed at G supporting the brake-shoe G adapted to operate in connection with the reel E. Ado-wn ward projection of the lever G (indicated by H) carries the end of thelink H, supporting at its other extremity a' friction-roller H adapted to engage with a friction-roller H upon the shaft of the wire-reel and H upon the counter-shaft A The lever G is supplied with aspring I. The fulcrum of this lever G2 is supported by a lever L, fulcrumed at 1*, operating between the strips I I and controlled by a rod 1, extending through the car and supplied by the handles I 1 one at either end, adapted to be readily controlled by a driver seated in the seat J. The rod I is provided with the projections C by means of which the reversingswitch C is actuated simultaneously with the lever I. The link C serves to connect said switch and projection. I

An electric lamp K is attached to the extreme end of the car for lighting the track ahead.

The flexible cable E is supplied at its extremity by a detachable connector L, which is adapted to engage its corresponding connector L, which may be placed at or near the intersection of a lateral with the main entry,

and may be placed in electrical connection with the main wires D by the auxiliary wires L 0 is a wire conncctin g the rheostat and the axle B.

The use and operation of my invention are as follows: The seat J provided at the end of the car is low so that the uppermost portion of the car or its driver is at a minimum distance from the surface of the track A, which obviates the necessity in a large degree of the process known as brushing in mines, which is necessitated by the use of animals which are so high that this process becomes necessary. The motor located upon the car is controlled as to amount of current received by the rheostat 0', connected with the rod and handles C, controllable from either-end of the car. The current entering from the wire D, contact-strip D, trolley D D, flexible conductor C", and conductors and switches, after passing the rheostat is carried out by the Wire C connecting to the axle B, and thence to the rail A, as will readilybe understood. The motor is connected to each of the trucks by sprocket wheel and chain, as shown. The counters A drive the wheels B, and may be connected to the trucks so as to turn a sharp curve in unison therewith. Thewheels B are of the usual construction, being tight upon the axle B. As the track approaches a curve, an extra segmental portionof track is placed around the curvature near the track on either side, so as to engage the extra wheel B loose upon the shaft. This may be situated as shown in Fig. 5, or upon the other side of the wheel. The ofiice of this extra loose wheel is to raise the wheel slightly or relieve its pressure upon the track, even though it may still rest thereon iu such a manner that it is free to revolve inunison with the other wheel, which is in contact with the track. The curves are so quick and short and of such small radius in ordinary mining operations that the wheels upon the axles are usually loose and are therefore not required to revolve in unison. In my motor-car, however, I cause the wheels to revolve in unison, but around the quick curve I raise one of the wheels in such a way that the traction, while still being upon one of the wheels only, it is not impeded by the friction on the other, but acting upon the track of longer radius may have a greater leverage over the load than it would were it working upon a straight track. The trolley, by means of which the current is derived from the stationary conductor as the car moves,is of novelform,two wheels beingupon the top edge of the strip and one wheel underneath the same. These wheels are preferably grooved, and a spring is provided by means of which the wheels clamp the conductor and are readily attached while in operation, though easily removed when desired. In lieu of running this more expensive wire or electric construction up the laterals I prefer to locate at or near terminals of these laterals ahook, connector, or hitch L, (shown same circuit to the motor as formerly conj nected to the conductor D, but as the tramcar moves up this lateral from the main track and over the hitch it is desirable to have the cable gradually pass off from the reel E with not too great velocity and only in proportion as the car advances, and should it stop suddenly it is desirable that the cable should suddenly stop unreeling. I therefore provide the brake-shoe G which is automatically adjustable as to its application by the roller G, which rests upon the cable and allows the application of the brake-shoe when the cable is loose, and it is removed from frictional engagement when the cable again continues. Upon a reversal of the car when it once more comes down the entry toward the hitch it is desirable to automatically reel up the wire which has been paid out while moving in the opposite direction. This I accomplish by a friction-roller H which engages with the rotating element connected with the wheel or motor of the. car, the application of which to the reel depends upon the tension of the cable. As it is more slack, the frictional engagement between the rotating part and the reel is increased and the reel winds up faster and tends thereby to increase the tension, which after a certain point has been reached automatically operates to disconnect the said friction-roller from the reel, and thereby decreases the tension, which is thus always held to a certain point. The direction of rotation of the various parts is calculated to be such that the reel will wind up, as will be seen by referring to Fig. 2, the arrow indicating the direction of rotation of the friction-wheel II, which is the driving element. It will also be seen by Fig. 1 that by means of the arm 0'' and projection 0 at the time that the reversing'switch is operated the fulcrum of the lever G is also changed as to its position, which enables the use of the roller G resting upon the wire and the spring I to be employed for both retarding and actuating the cablereel E.

I claim- 1. In an electric tram-car provided with rotating portions, the combination of a cablereel, a brake operated from the tension of the cable upon said reel, and a variable friction device connected with the rotating portion ing portion of the tram-car and operated by the tension of the cable.

. 3. In an electric tram-car, a reel, in combination with a roller resting upon the con ductor carried by said reel, retarding and actuating devices consisting of a brake and a variable friction-gearing operated from said roller, and connecting mechanism for connecting said roller with the retarding and actuating devices.

4. In an electric tram-car, a reel, in combination with a roller-resting upon the conductor carried by said reel, retarding and actuating devices connected with the reel, connecting mechanism between the roller and such devices, and a lever for throwing one of said devices into engagement and the other out of engagement at the same time.

5. In an electric tram-car, a reel for the electrical conductor, devicesfor controlling the movement of said reel, and a switch in the electrical circuit with said electrical conductor, both said devices and switch being controlled by the same means.

6. In an automatic controlling device for the reel of an electric tram-car, two. rollers over which the conductor passes, an intermediate roller resting upon the conductor, and abrake and friction-Wheel connected with and operated by said last-named roller, and a rotating part.

7. In an electric tram-car, a reeling device, in combination with controlling handles adapted to be operated from either end of the car.

8. In an electric tram-car, in combination with actuating devices for the reel for the electrical conductor for said car, a rheostat in circuit with said conductor, both reel and rheostat connected with controlling parts at eachend of the car, and a seat or support for the operator upon each end of the car in near proximity to the said controlling parts of the operating device.

9. In an electric tram-car, in combination with the track and entry of the mine, the

walls of which support the rigid conductors for the connection with the car as it moves upon the track,- a traveling contact to engage such conductor, a flexible conductor also connected with the electrical devices upon the car, said conductor provided with means for attachment, and stationary contacts L, connected with said rigid conductor.

10. In an electric tram-car, an automatically-operated reel and its conductor, in combination with a stationary contact placed in the electrical circuit and a co-operating contact upon the electrical conductor carried by said reel for attachment to said stationary contact, and astationary cond uctor and moving contact detacliably connected to the car to normally operate the same.

11. In an electric tram-canthe combination, with the track electrically connected to the circuit, of a stationary terminal or contact and a reel or coil of wire situated upon the car.

' 12. An electric tram-car in combination with the track upon which it rests, andan electrical contact near one end of said track, and a reel or coil of electrical conductor situated upon the car, and electric translating de- Vices located in an electric circuit between said conductor and track.

13. A tram-car resting upon a track, in combination with an electric motor contained therein, rotating portions driven by said motor, and a reel and mechanism for sustaining a driving-connection between the rotating portions and the reel.

14. In an electric tramway system, stationary rails forming conductors, and a flexible conductor mounted upon a reel located upon the tram-car, these two serving, respectively, as positive and negative sides of the circuit, in combination with translating devices located in an electric circuit between said flexible conductor and track.

15. In an electric tramway system, a stationary metallic conductor and a flexible con ductor serving, respectively, as the positive and negative sides of the circuit, the latter being paid out and reeled upas the car moves to and fro.

16. In an electric tramway system, two conductors, one stationary and metallic and the other flexible, and reeled upon the car as the same travels to and fro. v

17. In a mine, a stationary rigid'conductor and a flexible conductor and a car containing the latter, said car being mounted upon the stationary conductor, and electric devices which retain circuit-connection by means of the flexible conductor as the car goes to and fro.

18. In a mine, a stationary metallic conductor and a flexible conductor, and a car upon which the latter is mounted, and an electric motor which retains its circuit-connections by means of the flexible conductor, which is paid out and reeled up as the'car moves to and fro.

19. In a mine, a stationary metallic conductor and a flexible conductor, a car upon which the latter is mounted, and an electric translating device which retains its circuitconnections by means of the flexible conductor, which is paid out and reeled up'as the car moves to and fro.

20. An electric tram car containing electoo trical translating devices, duplicate means nation with electric-motor devices thereon, two separate devices mounted upon the carv for sustaining electrical connections with stationary conductors, consisting of a flexible conductor one end of which is electricallyconnected with the electrical devices upon the car, and also a traveling contact sustaining electrical connection to the stationary coning the other side of the circuit, stationary contacts at the foot of the junction of the portions of the track not supplied with the suspended eonductor, and a flexible conductor serving to complete the circuit-connections of the electrical appliances upon the car when such connections cannot be made or are not 20 made by the traveling contact.

Signed this 9th day of April, 1889.

ELMER A. SPERRY. In presence of- CELESTE P. CHAPMAN, FRANCIS M. IRELAND.

Correction in Letters Patent No 434,363.

It is hereby certified that Letters Patent No. 484,363,

of Chicago, Illinois, for an improvement in granted August 12, 1890, upon the application of Elmer A. Sperry, Systems of Transportation by Electricity i11 Mines, was erroneously issued to the Sperry Electric Company, Patent should have been issued to the said Elmer A. Sperry, as sole owner; and that said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the PatentOfifioe.

Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 2d day of September, A. D. 1890.

GEO. CHANDLER, First Assistant Secretary of the Interior.

[SEAL] O ountersigned:

ROBERT J. FISHER,

Acting Conwn-issioncr of Patents.

of Illinois, as owner of the patent; that said Letters 

